Imke Buß; Jutta Rump; Janina Kaiser; Melanie Schiedhelm; Petra Schorat-Waly

Learning behavior and academic success are influenced by multiple factors. Psychological constructs such as intelligence, motivation, stress coping strategies, etc. play a significant role. However, not only personal but also situational factors are important for learning and study success. Empirical findings suggest that the support and encouragement experienced from the social environment also determine success in studies (Remdisch 2012). In dropout research, the idea of academic and social integration as influencing variables is prominent according to Tinto (1975; 1993). Here, the occasions of interaction with instructors and fellow students are part of students' intellectual development. According to Tinto, if students receive little academic feedback and are poorly integrated into social networks, the probability of dropping out increases. This is also confirmed by empirical studies from Germany (Jonkmann 2005; Pohlenz and Tinsner 2004).

In terms of academic integration, the most important actors are the instructors, who promote academic performance through feedback, suggestions, and support. Social integration is important for student group involvement. To the extent that students see themselves as part of a community and are supported by it personally and in the learning process, as well as through information sharing, the likelihood of dropping out is reduced. Instructor-initiated learning and work events in student groups can reinforce integration.

This model had a significant influence on U.S. dropout research and still forms the basis for the scientific examination of the phenomenon of dropout beyond the U.S. today. The model has also been critically adapted and further developed in German-speaking countries (Hartwig 1986; Winteler 1984; McCubbin 2003). German dropout research shows that in addition to integration, other individual or institutional aspects play a role. Institutional aspects are, for example, advising and teaching quality (Heublein et al. 2010). Finally, Wielepp (2013) points out some further aspects that influence integration into studies and can be supported by the university:

1. Do students turn to the social and academic network of the university?
2. Are they building a subject identity?
3. Do they have knowledge of support and counseling services?
4. Do they participate in learning groups?

Integration of different student groups
At the university, there are student groups that require special attention due to poorer social and academic integration on average. For example, students with impairments are found to feel less socially integrated and to have a longer duration of study (unpublished results, survey Open Study Model Ludwigshafen). The situation is similar for foreign students, whose academic integration is hampered by insufficient knowledge of the German higher education system (Federal Ministry for Migration and Refugees, BAMF 2011). Their social integration is hampered by cultural and language barriers, which can manifest itself in group formation and exclusion in learning groups. In this context, Wielepp (2013, p. 382) points out the relevance of student networks:

"For foreign students and students from non-academic backgrounds, social integration at the university is crucial for study satisfaction and success. Students from these groupings are more likely to remain among themselves and consequently lack access to important (informal) student networks."

Finally, due to time constraints, working professionals and those with caregiving responsibilities cannot attend classes, office hours, or social activities with the same flexibility as students without such responsibilities. Instructors can support social integration through formats and methods that require students to collaborate within and outside of the course. Academic integration can be supported through professional discussions and personal feedback.

Literature
Federal Ministry for Migration and Refugees, BAMF (2011): Universities as places of integration. Available online at www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/
DE/Publikationen/Broschueren/broschuere-hochschule-orte-integration.pdf?__blob
=publicationFile, last checked 20.01.2016.

Hartwig, J. (1986): Dropout in university studies. Investigating modes of access in the analysis of dropout and developing like reviewing a causal-analytic model. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag.

Heublein, U.; Hutzsch, C.; Schreibner, J.; Sommer, D.; Besuch, G. (2010): Causes of dropout in bachelor and in conventional degree programs. Results of a nationwide survey of de-registered students of the academic year 2007/08. 2nd ed. Hannover: HIS Hochschul-Informations-System GmbH. Available online at www.dzhw.eu/pdf/pub_fh/fh-201002.pdf, last checked 26.04.2016.

Jonkmann, K. (2005): Study dropout, study duration and study experience. Analysis of the student survey of the Institute of Computer Science at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Berlin. Available online at www.informatik.hu-berlin.de/de/forschung/gebiete/wbi/teaching/fragebogen/Bericht_Informatik_final.pdf, last checked 06/17/2020.

McCubbin, I. (2003): An Examination of Criticisms made of Tinto's 1975 Student Integration Model of Attrition. Available online at www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/localed/icubb.pdf.

Pohlenz, P.; Tinsner, K. (2004): Determinants of student dropout. An empirical investigation of causes and responsibilities. Potsdam: Potsdam University Press.

Remdisch, S. (2012): Das Runde muss ins Eckige - Strategien für die erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit zwischen Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft. In: Tomaschek, N.& Hammer, E. (Ed.): University meets Industry. Perspectives of the lived knowledge transfer of open universities. Münster, New York, Munich, Berlin: Waxmann.

Tinto, V. (1975): Dropout from Higher Education: A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Re-search. In: Review of Educational Research (45 (1)), pp. 89-125.

Tinto, V. (1993): Leaving College. Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wielepp, F. (2013): Heterogeneity. The challenge of higher education in demographic change. In: P. Pasternack (Ed.): Beyond the metropolises. Universities in demographically challenged regions. Leipzig: Akademische Verlagsanstalt, pp. 363-387.

Winteler, A. (1984): Conditions of dropout intention. Path analytic validation of a conceptual scheme on dropout. In: Higher Education (2 (4)), pp. 193-214.

Citation
Buß, Imke; Rump, Jutta; Kaiser, Janina; Schiedhelm, Melanie; Schorat-Waly, Petra (2017): Dimension: academic and social integration. In: Rump, Jutta; Buß, Imke; Kaiser, Janina; Schiedhelm, Melanie; Schorat-Waly, Petra: Toolbox for good teaching in a diverse student body. Working Papers of the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences, No. 6. www.hwg-lu.de/arbeitspapiere

Use according to Creative Commons under attribution (please use given citation) and for non-commercial purposes.

back to the overview 'Diversity relevant for learning